Loving Life!

Ahhh... things are finally settling down, and we are finding our daily groove! It has been a reality check for me that I am now coming to accept, that my sleep has been taken away from me for the next couple months. Now that I have come to terms with this new reality, it is getting easier to wake up multiple times each night with Charlotte. You know me, heels in the mud as long as I can when it comes to resisting change. 

Charlotte is sleeping pretty well for a 1 month old! She passes out for the night between 9:30 and 10p.m., and then will sleep until about 2 or 2:30 a.m. It's what she does to me after that first feeding, that kills me! She will wake up again about 4:30 or 5 a.m., and then just grunt until around 7 a.m. when she will finally pass out... right as Emma is waking up... AWESOME *insert thumbs up here*

The grunting, by the way, is so much worse than just a full on cry! At least a cry you can usually figure it out, give her what she needs and she's a happy baby again. Oh the grunting!! She grunts in her sleep, she grunts when she's awake, she grunts when she's stretching or waking up, then moves around a little, and will pass back out.. I mean lights out-out. So by the time I am fully awake to take care of her... Miss thang is sleeping peacefully. 

The most frustrating part is that I can't seem to figure out what she needs! I go through the check list: diaper change, feed, burp, cuddle...  but the sleeping part just does not come. She is wide awake after that second feeding, and unless she is on my chest cuddling, she will not sleep quietly. I've just been keeping her on my chest and laying back down so that I can get a few more hours sleep before Emma wakes up at 7:30 a.m., and sometimes even that doesn't work. Nyquil for a 1 month old is frowned upon... right?

Anyways, that is my sleeping dilemma, and I may have to start my day at 5 a.m. so I am not so sleepy and irked that I couldn't sleep until AT LEAST 7 a.m. Talk about Mom problems.

As for me, I am feeling like my normal pre-prego self again. After about 3 visits to the doctor's office, and lots of pain meds, I can say that everything feels normal again, and I don't feel like I just popped a child out of my uterus. Yay! I am lucky enough to have been able to drop almost all my baby weight within the first month, and now only have a few pounds to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. That will start AFTER the Holidays of course, no sense in trying to diet/exercise when there's pumpkin pie and chocolate to eat!

Emma is also doing great; she is growing into herself and definitely developing her own personality. She is very particular and everything has to be her idea. She has become very independent, and wants to do everything herself, without any help. Even down to opening fruit snack packages... I have to let her try first, and then after a few failed attempts, she will bring it over to me and say "pease". It is pretty cute. 

We have also established "time-out" with Emma, which let me tell you, has been super fun. A whole new world of fun actually. Her biggest reason for time-out is not listening. I mean, looking right at you, doing what you told her not to do, not listening. Or just blatantly ignoring us. Today, I had to call her name about 5 times and she still wouldn't look at me when I told her "No". It's like if she doesn't acknowledge me, she can keep doing what she wants! Once placed in time-out, she cries for a few seconds, and then starts to play in her crib. Today, she was playing with her boogers that were all runny from crying. When I went in to talk to her, I found her with both fingers up each nostril. And then came that Emma smile, the one that is irresistibly cute and adorable where you can't help but to just laugh. 

She has got the, "say sorry and give Momma a hug and kiss" part down to an art though! I go in and let her know why she was in time-out, and then ask her to say sorry and give me a kiss, and she does it every time! It just melts my heart to no end. How can I be upset at this loving and gentle soul? We have a lot of do-overs throughout the day, where I just have to take a step back and remember that she is a sweet girl at heart, it's just the toddler stage that gets in the way. 

I am loving being home, through all the hard and sleepless days, I love my girls and I love this opportunity to raise them and experience life with them.

To end, I'll give you a taste of how cute our Emma is (as if you didn't know already!) with some videos of her first slurpee and showing off her teeth. Enjoy!

xoxo
The Twistles

The Parent Rap

I saw this today and had to post it! It's so funny that this is my reality these days...

Hope you get a good laugh! Happy Thanksgiving weekend everyone! Today I am thankful for my family, and being a Mom, no matter how messy and unglamorous it is!

xoxo

The Twistles

For The Kids...

I contemplated making this post private, since what I'm going to put in this post are texts from my sweet husband while we were dating. They are very special to me, and being a private person, it's not my style to share these types of things. I am making this a public post, so that if there is any doubt in anyone's mind of Matt's love for me, this will help them understand. He is truly the most amazing man I have ever known, and I'm so glad I have these messages that I can document to remember forever. 

(WARNING!! It's a love post, so if you can't handle it, back away from the computer now!)

It started when Emma wanted to play with my old, old, old phone (we have a few phones that are out of commission that are now in Emma's toy bin). She brought me this phone, and said, "boke" which means broke in Emma language. I answered, "yes honey, it's broke... let me see if Momma can fix it." I luckily still had the charger to the phone, so charged it we did. 

I love looking at information on old phones, it's like looking back during a certain part of your life, and reminiscing about old memories. I flipped open the phone and looked through all the text messages that I had saved from Matt. One after another brought back a flood of wonderful memories of our courtship. I remembered where I was with each message; I remembered how I felt after I received each one. It is truly a testament to me of how much God's hand played a role in our lives. I have never felt so strongly for someone, and reading these messages reminds me of our path together--the very beginning--to where we are now, with two beautiful daughters and an eternal marriage that will last through the eternities. 

Here are the love messages from my best friend, I hope our girls will read this someday, and see just how much their Daddy loves their Mommy. It is so apparent to me every day, and even more so after reading these messages. I love you Matty, you are all I have ever wanted, and you make me the happiest girl in the world, just like you said you would.

Love Messages From Matty:

2/23/2009 @ 11:35 a.m.: Matt and I had been dating for 9 days... and I received this message while I was at work at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

"Rachel having you around is like being with one of your best friends and also being crazy about them. That's gay, huh?" (that's classic Matt, it wouldn't be the same if I censored it!)

2/28/2009 @ 8:04 p.m.: I don't remember the context of what brought this message up, but I do remember how it made me feel...:

"Well they're all crazy. Beautiful is kind of an all encompassing package. It's hot, smart, fun, funny, witty, spiritual... Etc. You are all of those to me."

2/28/2009 @ 11:17 p.m.: Matty and I must have been late night texting. Again, I don't remember what I said that brought about his response, but it's sweet nonetheless:

"I won big two weeks ago when we went on our first date."

3/4/2009 @ 11:22 a.m.: Matt and I worked together at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, which is how we met. I worked in Clinic E, and he worked in Clinic C... we didn't tell anyone that we were dating for about 3 months, so it was our little secret that no one knew. We texted back and forth to each other all day. Hence this message:

"Well try working when the only thing you care about is at the other end of the hall."

3/8/2009 @ 2:48 p.m.: Matt became an important part of my life during a very trying time. I had just signed my divorce papers and had no idea what I was going to do next. I was in the process of an intense and painful repentance process with the Bishop and had lost most all of the people in my life who I called "friends". I shared my experiences with Matt often, because he had also been down a hard road of repentance. This message came from one of our discussions:

"You're turning your back on the world all because you believe in something you cannot see. That's a miracle. I love it. It attracts me to you because I can relate."

3/10/2009 @ 2:55 p.m.: I knew I loved Matt very quickly. The feeling came over me while I was out visiting my friend Susie in Arizona. Matt and I had only been dating for 2 weeks, and at the time of booking my flight, I was single and didn't think I would have anyone to miss. During my stay in AZ, I was questioning to myself whether I was in love with Matty or not. I immediately had this intense feeling come over me that to this day, still rocks me to my very core. I knew I loved him. It was just getting him to confess it as well that took so long :) This message came after I had told him that I loved him:

"I want to. That's all. I want to be in love with you. I'm so gay."

3/16/2009 @ 10:34 p.m.: This message needs no background. I still remember this message without needing to look at my old phone. He has stuck to every word, and I have never stopped smiling:

"Rachel, I can make you smile for the rest of your life. Just let me, that's all I'm asking. I will never hurt you. I love you more than you know."

4/12/2009 @ 11:10 p.m.: You really have Matty:

"I'll try my best to always make you the happiest girl in the world."

4/14/2009 @ 11:14 p.m.: I remember receiving this text, and thinking Matt was crazy. We had just gone to dinner, and then watched the movie "Seven Pounds". Nothing amazing, nothing out of the ordinary. He just has a way of making me feel special even when the things we do together are just ordinary:

"Rachel, you were inexplicably breathtaking tonight. I love you more than life itself. Goodnight my love."

4/15/2009 @ 8:06 a.m.: This was the day after our ordinary date night:

"I was so in love with you last night! I woke up this morning and almost felt overwhelmed with happy!"

5/21/2009 @ 3:33 p.m.: I heard this a lot from Matt, and I don't think I will truly ever understand just how much he loves me. I thought that someday I might, but he's right, he really does love me more than I will ever know:

"I love you. You really push me to be the best person for you and that is my favorite quality of yours. Thanks."

After reading these messages in my phone, I knew I needed to write them down before they became lost forever. I want our kids to know what real love is, and they will see it by reading these messages, and watching how Matty treats me. He makes me laugh, even if I ignore his jokes. He isn't afraid to act like a fool just to get a laugh out of me. He loves our girls. He makes Emma laugh daily. He works hard at his job so I can stay home and raise our girls. He understands me. He has more patience than I ever will. He is my best friend and I don't ever want to be without him. I love you Matty! Thanks for making me the happiest girl in the wrold. 

xoxo
Rachel

Home Life With The Girls

Life has been hectic these past few weeks, to say the least. If I ever thought having one baby was a game changer, I had no idea what having two would be like! 

Charlotte has settled into the newborn feeding schedule, I was hopeful she would sleep longer through the night, but she wakes up about every 2 hours to eat in the middle of the night. I am up with her 3-4 times each night for about an hour at a time. It's completely exhausting. Right when I get into that deep sleep, she wakes up and wants to eat again. I feel like it's Groundhog's Day every night, and I just pray that I make it to daylight. 

Emma wakes up around 7:30 a.m., so I have just enough time to feed Charly at 7 a.m., burp her, change her, and then brush my teeth and wash my face before Emma is up. Diet Pepsi and Rockstars have been my saving grace during the day! By the time Matt gets home I probably look like a disaster and am so tired that I barely have the energy to say, "hi". I really miss sleep. 

Charly is very alert and awake during the morning, and around 3 p.m. passes out for hours and hours. She wakes up around 6:30 and I try to keep her up for a few hours so that she is tired again for bedtime. It doesn't always work, but that's alright. 

Emma loves her "baby", and really likes to help out. She looks at me with the most concerned face if Charly cries or even makes a peep. 

When Charly is out cold during the afternoon, Emma and I have our own time together where I muster up any energy I have to play with her. The weather has been nice still, so we go on the patio to play, or we read books or watch a movie and cuddle. I absolutely love this time with her, and try to make it a point to do it every day. Today, we watched videos that we have taken of Emma. She thought it was so hilarious, and would laugh when she heard Matt's voice on the video. I snapped a few pictures of her watching herself on the laptop, because her expression was just too cute!

Emma watching herself on the laptop

She was so cute!

laughing!

Learning how to use a computer...

Emma really wanted to help me feed Charlotte, and did a great job! She loves to help Momma with diaper changes, feedings, and binkys. 

Doing her kissy face while feeding Charlotte

She loves giving the baby kisses

Had to throw in a sleeping baby picture :)

I found this idea off of Pinterest! Emma loves it; the original game is to weave these pipe cleaners in a pasta strainer, but Dad came up with this idea too. We play with these at least once a day. 

All in all I love that I get to be home with my girls. It is beyond exhausting, but the payoff is so worth it. This is what I've always wanted, and I'm so thankful to Matt that he works so hard to make it possible for me to stay home. We are truly blessed and have been ever since we got together. I can't wait for some normalcy around here, the first few weeks have definitely been rough! 

I love my family!!

xoxo
The Twistles

Halloween 2012

We had a fun Halloween this year! Emma wasn't quite old enough last year to understand how cool it is  to go door to door and have people give you candy. This year, we told her that you have to say, "Trick or Treat" to get candy... and it came out as, "beap, beap". We headed up to Owen and Crissy's house on a whim to join the trick or treating fun. Emma got a kick out of ringing everyone's doorbell and getting candy. 

Matt also took Emma to our ward's trunk or treat the Friday before Halloween. He said she had a blast running freely up and down the hallways in her cupcake costume. The only video he could get of her was her running away from him with her costume swishing as she ran. It is so cute.

Lastly, we painted pumpkins instead of carving them. Emma loves coloring and painting, so we knew she would love it. Matt and I got pumpkins for us to paint, but quickly realized that we would spend more time watching where Emma put her paintbrush than we could spend painting our own. So we let her paint ours too. She loved it!

Hope everyone else had a safe and fun Halloween! 

Emma the cupcake

Painting pumpkins is serious work

Emma's pumpkin

Our family of pumpkins

Emma with her cousins on Halloween

She loves her Jessica!

xoxo
The Twistles

Miss Charlotte Anne

She's here!!

(Granted, I forced her out like her older sister, but hey, don't judge)

I went in for my 39 week check up on 10/18/12, desperately wanting to have some kind of positive action happening so that I could be induced. I was so done being pregnant. After she checked me, I was still only dilated to a 1 and maybe 50% effaced. 

Luckily I have the coolest doctor ever, and she said, "you know what, you are 39 weeks, and I am fine inducing you now. Let me check to see if they can get you a bed tonight."

She left the room, and not joking, Matt and I both said a silent prayer asking that there was an open bed that night. She came back in quickly, so we thought it would be bad news. "Well, they have a spot for you and I've put you on the schedule! Just show up at 8 p.m. tonight and they'll start the induction."

Shock was the expression on my face. Holy crap, I was having this baby now! Matt and I went home, straightened up the house, got everything packed, and arranged for Emma to stay with my brother and sister in law. 

We went to Happy Sumo for our traditional "pre-baby-meal-until-you-can-eat-again" dinner and then headed up to the hospital. 

It's always fun to go to doctor's appointments at the UofU, because the CEO of the hospital has the same last name as us. The employees are always a bit more polite, friendly, and willing to go above and beyond for us because of course, they assume I am related to the CEO. So upon check in, we were greeted at the door by a friendly nurse that asked if I was "Rachel Entwistle" and walked me right to our room. I can't lie, so when our nurse asked if there was any relation to the CEO, I had to let her know that Uncle David would not be visiting us any time soon. :) It was a nice 20 minutes while it lasted. We still received amazing service during our stay. 

I was induced at 9 p.m., and had a slow progression until about 12 p.m. the next day. Everything went bizarrely well, I was kind of waiting for something to go wrong. I was able to sleep for most of the night, and then jumped from 4cm dilated to 9cm within 30 mins, and then 5 pushes later Charlotte was born! 

This time around was too easy, I was super blessed!

Things have been hectic here on the home front, but I think we are getting into a nice schedule and it can only get more normal from here. I definitely forgot how much I enjoy my sleep... now that I don't get it anymore! 

Emma loves her little sister, and always asks where the baby is when I get her out of bed in the mornings. She loves to give baby Charlotte kisses and help put blankets on her. 

Here's some pictures we took during our stay at the UofU Hotel Hospital:

Just starting the action...

Waiting... 

Contractions and stuff.

Matt's luxurious sleeping arrangements... our nurse swapped this one out for a better one after we arrived...  Last name relation maybe?

Hi baby!!!

So in love.

And also SO tired.

Emma meeting her little sister for the first time, she brought her a stuffed squirrel and was so excited to give it to Charlotte.

Me with my girls... so precious

  We feel so blessed to welcome baby Charlotte into the world, we've been waiting to meet her for a long time! She is such a little angel and we love her so much already. More blogging to come, maybe.. when I get the time/energy/motivation!

xoxo

The Twistles